Large-scale Puppet Show "Puppets in the World" Featuring Music, Dance, Poetry and Painting Officially Debuts

"Puppets in the World" still [Photo via Nanchong Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism]

Recently, the 3rd Nanchong International Puppet Art Week kicked off at Sichuan Provincial Puppet Theatre in Nanchong Province. As the opening performance, the large-scale puppet show "Puppets in the World" featuring music, dance, poetry and painting received a burst of applause from the audience.

"Puppets in the World" still [Photo via Nanchong Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism]

This 55-minute puppet show was created and produced by the Sichuan Provincial Puppet Theatre. The whole play combines the origins of puppetry and shadow puppet arts from all over the world, using sound, light and electricity technology and a rational division of the stage structure, to express the theme of "coexistence of world civilizations and expression of love by puppets across the world".

"Puppets in the World" still [Photo via Nanchong Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism]

Nanchong is the hometown of North Sichuan Giant Puppet. With a history of more than 300 years, North Sichuan Giant Puppet belonging to Rod Puppet is a rare opera genre in the world. It is known as "The Rare Puppet Art in the World” and “The Crown of Chinese Folk Art". In 2006, North Sichuan Giant Puppet was included in the "first batch of national intangible cultural heritage items". In recent years, puppet shows named "Legend of Dragon Gate" and "Myth of the Butterfly" have won many awards in puppet competitions.

"Puppets in the World" still [Photo via Nanchong Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism]

In 2014, the Asia-Pacific International Puppet and Shadow Exhibition and Performance Base was permanently settled in Nanchong, where the first Nanchong International Puppet Art Week was also held at the same time. Now, Nanchong International Puppet Art Week has been included in the list of activities of the International Puppet Association of UNESCO, and has become an important international cultural exchange activity in Nanchong.